


Long But Forgotten

by FriendlyHougen



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Archie's Family is not Abusive, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Deformation, Deformity, Gen, Human Experimentation, Kidnapping, Maxie's Father is Abusive, More edgy tags to be added as time goes on, Unethical Experimentation, Wow Friendly you're fucked up!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2020-12-16 07:24:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21032447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyHougen/pseuds/FriendlyHougen
Summary: After being sent to an underground experimentation lab by his father, Maximillian is subjected to horrible experiments by scientists with gas masks. After a year, Archie is caught and introduced as emotional support. After growing close, the two never knew that their lives would be ruined forever.





	1. Visions

"Come on, sis! The water's warm!"

Archie's feet sunk into the wet sand, his feet ankle-deep in the water. There were Wingulls cawing above him, the sun shining brightly on this warm, summer day. Archie's Poochyena yipped and dashed into the water right behind him, splashing water all over the boy. Shelly was still hesitant to enter the water. The tide was low, so there were many small clams exposed into the air. "I don't want to step on these," Shelly replied. "I don't want them to break and for them to die."

"Pssht, Shelly, you're being overdramatic. All they do is just sink deeper into the sand, they don't even feel anything." Shelly glared at Archie. "And how are you supposed to know that?" She scoffed. "Look at where my feet have been, then you'll see." Shelly walked over to Archie's footprints and saw that he was right. All they really did was just leave an imprint in the sand. The girl sighed. "Ahh, I guess you're right, but I'll be gentle." She gently tiptoed into the water, her feet finally getting wet. "There we go, _now_ you're in."

Suddenly, a large wave crashed right in front of them, splashing their clothes. Poochyena was completely wet at this point, letting out a small growl of unamusement. The siblings chuckled and started to laugh. Archie took off his shirt and threw it behind him, running closer into the ocean and diving in. Shelly soon followed, crashing into the waves. Poochyena stayed behind, shaking the water off of his body.

"Archie! Shelly!" His mother called from the house, which was right next to the beach. "There's something on the news that I think you'd like to see." Archie grumbled. "Is it another Skitty that got rescued from a tree?" He walked out of the water, picking up his shirt. His mom always checked into the news when it was on, and whenever something cute or amusing was talked about, she'd call both of them in to see.

"What is it now?" Archie asked. When he saw what was on TV, he was a little shocked. "Ah, you missed it." His mother said, disappointed. "Our next story involves a suspicious group that has been traveling throughout Hoenn, supposedly abducting children. Their intentions remain a mystery to most, but whenever a child is abducted by them, they are known to never return." Archie stared blankly at the screen and his mother was kneeling in front of him, dazed by what was being presented. "The group's uniform is a gas mask and a long cloak encompassing their body. It is unsure whether they wear this to remain anonymous or if it is part of their experiments." A picture was displayed on screen of three men as described in police custody. A video clip then showed on screen of the members being interviewed by police. "Many have been arrested but none are willing to give answers about their intentions. No one knows if their numbers have been dwindling because of the arrest, but the abductions have become more common. If you are a parent, please beware, and if you see any person with a cloak and a gas mask, please call your local police department."

The mother shut off the TV. "That was... troubling. Archie, Shelly, do be careful whenever you go outside." Archie and Shelly nodded and returned to their rooms.

As the day turned to night, Archie had a thought that would not leave his mind. He was the kind of person that always wanted to help people that were in trouble like this. He was worried about the situation all of the kids were in and he couldn't shake it from his mind. Once he got into bed, he shut his eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Archie! Help me!" Archie's vision was completely black, but the voice around him sounded so real. _"I'm dying! I'm dying!" _There was also the sound of bones cracking and blood gurgling in the voice until all that was left was heavy, hoarse breathing. There were unintelligible gurgling noises as an air compressed door opened. There was a loud thud, and then the noises went silent.

Archie woke up, gasping for breath. "Who... was that?" He whispered. It was now morning, the sun shining through his window. He got up out of his bed.

"Archie, breakfast is ready!" His mother called. Shelly was already awake, sitting at the table. "Good morning, Archie!" Shelly then looked at Archie's face. It was gloomy, and he looked... scared. "Is something wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" Archie groaned. "Yeah... I did." Archie got up at the table, still thinking about his dream. Was it even a dream? Was it a nightmare? A vision? It felt _so real._

The boy told the two everything that happened. "Oh my..." His mother said. "Do you think it had to do about what we saw on the news yesterday?" Archie nodded slowly. "Well, just be careful, okay? You'll be fine." The mother hugged Archie and all three of them ate breakfast together.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! How did I forget? I've been so dumb in the past month." The mother chuckled. "I'm going to be feeding three of you in a few months." Archie and Shelly stared in shock at their mother. "Three?!"

"Yep! Three! It will be tough after your father left for Unova. He'll be back within a year and we'll all be happy together." Shelly got down from her chair and hugged her mother. Archie joined in. The three of them embraced each other, and Archie's thoughts on his dream went out the window.


	2. Lost All Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about time I continued this.

"Archie, are you sure we should stray this far from home?" Shelly called out to her brother who was running way ahead of her. The trees were bustling in the wind, the grass swaying in the small clearing they entered. Archie stopped and looked back at his worried sister, who finally caught up to him. "Shelly, why are you always so worried about me? I just turned thirteen, I can handle stuff like this." Shelly's brows furrowed as she gave a concerned look. "Besides, I'm not _that_ stupid. I wouldn't stray away from you, I wouldn't want you getting hurt."

"But what if _you_ get hurt?" Shelly gave a somewhat cocky response. "I understand you're looking out for me, but it's my job to do the same. Plus, what would mom think if we got in trouble out here? Who would she blame?" Archie sighed. "I guess you're right. But we came here to have fun, remember? No need to worry too much." Archie beckoned over to go further into the woods. And they both did.

The trees overhead blocked the sky even more, the area getting darker and darker as the shade loomed over the two siblings. As they went further, they noticed a beam of light that the trees weren't able to block, revealing a black van and a large man with a black cloak. He had a hood and a cape that extended down to the ground beneath him. The doors on the back of the van were wide open, the inside being so dark that it almost looked like an abyss. Shelly hid behind her brother, whispering, "Archie, who's that?" Archie gave a serious look. "Someone who could hurt us. Stay here."  
  


Shelly's face changed from worry to dread as the man turned his head. He had heard them. Archie blocked her sister from the man's sight. All he wanted to do was protect her. If anyone had to be hurt, it would be him. It didn't take long before the man noticed him, his piercing red eyes seeming to glow underneath his gas mask. The man ran over and grabbed Archie by the arm and threw him into the van with ease. It took some time for Shelly to process what was going on until she darted out of the bushes to save her brother. Archie tried to escape and meet his sister, but before he could the doors slammed right in front of him. Archie pounded on the doors as the van turned on and began to move. "LET ME OUT, DAMN IT! LET ME OUT!" A mixture of sobs and screams escaped his mouth as he desperately tried to escape. The almost deafening calls from Shelly turned into whispers as the van drove further and further away from her.

Shelly stopped dead in her tracks when the van was now completely out of sight. "No no no no, Archie..." She fell on her knees and began to cry. "Why... Why would you do this just to protect me?" She quickly got back on her feet and dashed home. It seemed like she ran for miles until she finally found the clearing where their home was, sliding open the door, her mother taking notice immediately. "Shelly, you're home-- wait, where's Archie?" Shelly sobbed as she told her mother everything.

* * *

"The men with the gas masks? Like the ones that were on the news the other day?" Shelly nodded. "But I thought he knew about them!" Shelly began to sob again. "We couldn't run away, we were like Deerling in headlights..." Her mother looked down in sadness. "And now Archie's gone forever!" Shelly cried and began to go on a tangent. "He'll never meet your baby, he'll never see us again, and only Arceus knows what those men will do to him! Will they kill him and we'll never know about it? And what about everyone at school? They'll be so worried!" Her mother drew her in for a hug. "Shelly..." She sobbed. "Don't worry. I'll call the police and they'll find him. They'll find him and we'll be together again. I promise." Shelly sobbed into her mother's shoulder. He would come back. He _had_ to come back.

* * *

The van slowed to a halt as the doors opened, the blinding light shining on the cloaked figure from before. "Come with me." He grabbed Archie's arm to prevent him from escaping. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you like the rest. You have a different job." _Like the rest? What did he mean like the rest? _Archie thought._ Can I even trust him? _Archie remained silent as the man led him to a set of giant doors. The cloaked man pressed his hand against a palm reader. "ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME." The automated voice said as the doors slid open, revealing a long hallway. The two tread down the hallway until the man came to a sudden stop. "We won't be going any further. See this door here? This leads to our lab where you will be staying." There was another palm reader that the man had passed, the door unlocking. There was a stairway that awaited them, and they went down those as well.

They finally reached the lab. There was a door right in front of them with two hallways on the left and right of them. There were signs next to both of the hallways, the one on the right reading "PERSONAL QUARTERS" while the one on the left read "TESTING QUARTERS." The large door in front of them had words above it that read "LABORATORY." The man pointed to the left hallway. "We will be taking this one. You will be staying in one of the rooms here with someone else." _Someone else? _Archie thought. As he was led down the hallway and his room's door opened, there was a boy up against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees. He looked around Archie's age, having red hair with a small ponytail at the end. Archie could tell his eyes were light brown, but most of the color faded from his eyes during his time here. There were no highlights at all. The boy seemed hopeless.

There were two cots in the room and a door to a bathroom, and that's all there was in the quarters. The rest was just empty space. There were tallies etched onto the walls, and there were so many that it was hard to count.

"This is where you will be staying. Go ahead and introduce yourself." Archie walked into the room. It was dead quiet and the boy didn't seem to budge, even when he heard the cloaked man talking. "Oh, and before I forget," the man said. "Your job is to provide emotional support. Cheer him up and make testing a lot easier for him." The door was abruptly shut after the man finished. Archie sat down next to the boy. "Hello, I'm going to be your--"

"Yes. I heard." The boy responded. "If you think this is going to work, it won't. I've been here too long. I've lost all hope." The boy sighed. "I even lost track of time. I stopped writing tallies." The boy looked Archie straight in the eye. "If you're wondering, my name's Max. Short for Maximillian. What's yours?" Archie responded, "I'm Archie. Short for nothing." Archie chuckled while Max remained emotionless. "Ah. I see. Nice to meet you, Archie."

  
Max was apathetic to Archie's humor. Whatever this was, it wasn't going to work. Nothing could work. "They do horrible things here. But they won't to you." Max went on. "They somehow treat the emotional support kids higher above the rest. Test subjects like me stay longer and are exposed to many different chemicals. Some more benign than others." Max shivered a little. "I heard if you resist too much, they do something called the final treatment, where they lock you up in a tube and fill it with gas that could deform you beyond what you could ever imagine. I've seen monsters come out of there. It's a horrible sight, enough to make you vomit."

Archie was stunned by these descriptions. "Did you ever resist?" Max nodded. "I did early on, but once I heard and saw what comes out of there, I stopped. I hope they at least forgave me for resisting the first few times." Archie's head was bombarded with thoughts and he finally asked one more thing, "Say, how did you end up here in the first place?" Max stared blankly at his knees. "Alright. I'll tell you. I needed to get it off of my chest, anyway."


	3. What Could I Have Done?

The lights of the culdesac had begun to light up as the sun had set. The kids outside were playing basketball together, all except for Max, who was dozing off on a neighbor's doorstep. A kid approached him in between him bobbing his head. "Max... Hey Max..." Max could barely hear the boy, he was about to fall--

"Hey, Max!"

Max woke up in a startled gasp. "Max, it's almost seven, you're going to miss your curfew!" Once he heard this, Max was wide awake. "Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me, I could've been in big trouble!" The other boy smirked. "Don't mention it, bud." He gave Max a pat on the back. "Now go home, sleepyhead." He teased as Max walked off toward his house.

As Max made his way home, he checked his watch. 7:01. Shit. His dad was going to kill him. Max ran towards the door and opened it, hoping that his family wouldn't mind his tardiness. "I'm home!" He called. "Welcome home!" His mother greeted Max with a big hug. Max's mom was always warm and inviting, compared to his dad who was always stern and violent. His dad was almost always drunk, taking out his rage upon his own son. Max avoided bringing him up, but his mother was completely oblivious to her husband's behavior. Max released his mother and made his way upstairs. "I'm gonna go to bed. I'm sleepy."

Once Max went into his room, he knew what was coming. Every time he missed his curfew, his father would go into his room and beat him. Max thought it was best to just hide under the covers and hope that he didn't notice. It was just a minute, right?

"MAXIMILLIAN!" He heard his father roar downstairs. Max let out a small whimper as he heard stomping up the stairs. He hid under the covers and covered his ears. The door burst open as his father entered the room. "Max, what did I tell you about being late?" Max didn't respond. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT BEING LATE?" Max whimpered louder. "But it was just one minute! What's wrong with one minute?!" His father growled. "It doesn't matter how long it was. It was after seven. Now get off of the damn bed."

"Well what if I don't want to?!" Max retorted. "You treated me like this for too long! Where's a nice, loving father? Everyone else has one! If you beat me up again, I'll have no choice but to tell mom!" The father raised his fist. "YOU WON'T TELL HER JACK SHIT!" Max took a blow straight to the eye. Then there were more. More all over his body until he couldn't move without excruciating pain. "If you tell her anything about what happened tonight and all the nights before, you'll get the worst from me. I fucking swear." Max's father stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Max with no choice but to cry himself to sleep.

* * *

"Good morning!" Max's mother greeted him as he walked down the stairs. "Oh, Arceus, what happened to your eye?" The red-haired boy tilted his head. "What about it?" Max asked. "Your eye... You have a black eye!" Maxie gasped. "Ah, uhh... I got hit in the face by a basketball when I was playing last night, it's nothing really--"

"No." His mother responded. "I know exactly what happened. It was your father." When he was brought up, Max looked around the room. His father was nowhere to be seen. "I heard what happened last night, even from downstairs. I kicked him out the moment he came out of your room." Tears filled Max's eyes. His father was gone. His father was gone and he and his mother could live happily together. No more beatings. Max ran over and hugged his mother. "Thank you, mom, you don't know how long I've been waiting for this..." The mother rubbed the top of her son's head. "I finally got rid of that horrible man, and we can be happy forever. It's the best I could do for my son."

* * *

Several hours had passed as Max was about to leave school. One of his long-time friends, Jared, approached and greeted him. "Max! How was school today?" Max smiled in the sight of his friend and responded, "It was good, how was your day?" Jared smiled back. "Good, thanks! Graduation's in a month! Are you excited?" Max's eyes lit up. "Of course I am!" Jared grabbed Max's collar and looked straight up at him. "You know what that means? We finally get to go to high school! Then there will be clubs and more people, and that means more friends!" Max didn't share the same enthusiasm as his friend. He mostly thought about the piles upon piles of textbooks and homework and all kinds of other boring things. But he didn't tell him. He wanted his friend to be happy. Now that his spirits were lifted, yeah, who cares about all the homework?

"I should get going, Jared." Maxie chuckled. "We can walk together if you want. Our houses aren't too far away." Jared's started to walk next to Max as they both went on their way home.

* * *

"Just a couple of streets down, my house isn't too far now," Max told his friend as they walked down the neighborhood's streets. Jared was balancing on top of any small wall in front of a garden that he could find, trying to entertain himself on the walk home. Once he got to a turn, he jumped off and looked down Max's street. "Oh, there's your house!" Jared stated happily. "Wait, what's that van in front of it?" Max had lost focus for a second, jolting back to himself before looking in the same direction as Jared. There was a large, black van parked on the side of the street in front of his house. "Oh no." Max dashed over, running down the street as fast as he could. "Wait! Max! Be careful!" Jared shouted at his friend. "Gah, he can't hear me," Jared stated his thoughts. "I should go home now." He walked away, still worrying about his friend.

Max opened the door, seeing an unfamiliar group on men in cloaks. "Ah, I'm assuming that's him." One of the figures spoke, voice slightly muffled under his gas mask. "Hello, Maximillian. Someone called us over here and told us all about you." The redhead looked at the men with fear in his eyes. "What are you going to do to me, you're not going to kidnap me, are you?! Not now, not when I'm finally happy!" Suddenly, another one of the cloaked men wrapped his arms around his shoulders and picked the boy up. "Wait! What are you doing?! Mom! You're there, right?! Help me! SAY SOMETHING!" The other men left and opened the back of the van as Max's mother was now able to be seen. "I'm sorry..." She sobbed. "It wasn't me..."

Before he knew it, Max was thrown into the back of the van as it turned on and began to move. "I didn't do anything..." He hiccupped and sobbed as tears dropped onto the floor below him. "What could I have done?"

* * *

"And that's how I ended up here." Archie was speechless. He looked down at the floor beneath him, then up at the wall, looking up at the countless tally marks. "I'm so sorry..." Archie finally replied. "Who would have wanted this to happen to you?" It didn't take long for the redhead to respond. "My dad. I think he was mad that mom knew." Max sighed. "But it wasn't my fault. I never told her." The boy finally got up. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm gonna go to sleep." Max got into his cot and fell asleep. It didn't take long for Archie to do the same.


	4. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating this frequently. I'm stuck in FFXIV hell.

"Hey! Open up!" There was banging from police officers outside of the hideout, the two steel doors blocking their way. The officer snorted in frustration, his Mightyena on standby. "Do you guys see any mechanism to open this thing?" The officer asked the others.

"It seems like there's some sort of palm reader here..." Another officer stated while investigating. "We obviously don't have any means of unlocking it. Are there any of the cloaked men in custody?" The main officer shook his head. "No, unfortunately. Some weirdos kept bailing them out." The officer sighed. "Alright, that leaves me no choice. Mightyena, use Take Down!"

Mightyena snarled as he charged straight at the gate, immediately yelping as he fell back from the recoil. Damn. Not even a dent.

"What kind of metal is this?" The officer questioned. It seemed enhanced. But with what? This was all so weird. "It's no use. I'd hate to tell that woman that we couldn't do much." The other officer tried to console his colleague. "At least we found the location, right?" The officer sighed and gave a smirk. "Well, we did. That's one thing done. Now we just have to find a way to break in."

* * *

"Max... Wake up..." The redhead could feel himself shaking in bed with a warm touch on his shoulder. Archie was sound asleep in the cot next to him and only now did Max notice Archie's limbs hanging off the bed and his loud snoring. Max snorted at the sight. "Max, come on. Stop messing around. We have to go." Max rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Alright, alright. This early?" Max got up and followed the men outside.

Before he knew it, Max was pinned down to a hospital bed with taut leather straps wrapping his wrists and ankles. He was accepting of it, knowing what was coming. Then the taller leader stepped into the room, Max inviting him with a smirk on his face. "Oh, so you brought Lazarus here too. Must be important." One of the subordinates slapped him in the face. "Shut your cocky mouth." He said sternly, forcing Max's head back into position. Lazarus raised his hand and flicked it. "Now now, no need to be so violent." This prompted another response from the redhead. "Says you." Another harder slap went straight to the kid's face.

  
"Can we get this over with quickly? I need to check in with my girlfriend soon." Lazarus responded to the commotion while grabbing a syringe. The syringe was filled halfway with a clear, thin fluid. The tall figure approached the boy, pointed the base of the needle directly on the vein in his inner elbow. "This is going to go in deep, so don't squirm too much or it will hurt more." The needle was quickly inserted into Max's arm, a small yelp escaping from the boy's mouth. He hated needles. He always hated needles. He could feel every drop of the fluid rush into his vein, tears welling up in his eyes. The needle was promptly taken out after the fluid was drained. "Alright, that's all from me." Lazarus sighed as he set the syringe down and walked out of the room. "Keep an eye on him for me."

After about a minute, Max's body seized up and started convulsing. His eyes were so wide that it felt like his eyes could pop right out of their sockets. He was foamy at the mouth, small screams escaping from what his voice could produce. This went on for what seemed like forever before Max's body calmed down. The boy was gasping for air, turning his head to stare straight at Lazarus's subordinates. "What... did you do to me..." He squeaked.

"Ah, simple. The fluid is water mixed with the gas we use for the final treatment. We made sure the amount wasn't enough to transform you into well, you know..." The subordinate finished that sentence with a smug drawl. The boy's face was now flushed with rage. "I'll kill you, I'll kill every last one of you, I'll kill Lazarus, I'll kill everyone here..."

"You wouldn't want to kill Lazarus, would you?" The subordinate replied. "Of course, I'll kill him first..." Max gritted his teeth. "You do realize his girlfriend is expecting, right? That's why he's been absent from most of your experiments. You wouldn't want to kill a father, would you?" The redhead smirked. "Do you think that will stop me?" One subordinate paused for a moment before turning around and striking Max straight in the face. "I'M SICK OF YOUR SHIT!" He screamed. "I'M SICK OF YOUR COCKY SHIT!" The subordinate punched Max in the stomach, causing the boy to cough up blood. "I swear to Arceus, that man will kill _you_ before you have a chance to kill him." Max spit out some blood. "I'd like to see him try."

The men released the boy from the straps before shoving him back into his room with a loud thud. This time Archie heard and woke up, staring at Max, who had collapsed onto the floor. Archie ran over to aid the boy. "Max! Are you okay?" Max looked up at Archie. "Do I look okay?" Archie noticed the blood and the dried bits of the foam that had covered his mouth earlier. "What did they do to you?!"

"I already told you, they do horrible things." Max briefed Archie about what happened. "They injected a drug that gave me a really bad seizure. Nothing new." Archie was stunned at how nonchalantly Max addressed all of this. "I'm going to take a shower then it will be your turn." Archie was speechless, still trying to process everything that just happened.

* * *

Whenever food or other things needed to be delivered to the rooms, there was a sliding slot in the middle of the door where the subjects could take it. For Max, it was only food or water. Anything that would keep him alive. But now, what was the point? He's easily been there a year, missed a birthday that he could be spending at home with his mother. Why even live? Why live when you're just being exposed to torment every single day?

But when Archie showed up, things changed. He was given books, games, things to _do,_ further proving the redhead's point about the emotional support kids getting special treatment. _"Take heed, young mortal," _Max retorted under his breath in the deepest voice he could muster. _"These sacred items are not to be shared with Maximillian." _Max snickered. Archie looked over at the boy who had his back turned against him. "What was that?" Archie questioned his acquaintance. "Ah, it's my best Lazarus impression. I've known him for I assume is a year know. He can be pretty verbose at times." Max chuckled. "He tries to sound all badass and whatnot."

"You do realize I don't have to do this all on my own, right?" Archie immediately got the redhead's attention. "Lazarus does give me board games, and you can't play those on your own." Max immediately walked over to Archie. "Plus the walls are solid. It's not like he can hear us. I mean, I have a book right now, but we could always play Eelektriks and Girafarigs later." Max stared at the book. "Which book is that?" Archie opened it up. "Oh, it's about the legendary Pokemon, Kyogre and Groudon. Wanna give it a read?"

Max nodded.

* * *

"And then, Rayquaza appeared from the clouds and told the two Primals, 'BITCH, SHUT THE HECK UP!'" Max was rolling on the floor from laughter at this point. Archie wasn't reading the story word for word, he was making a complete joke out of it the whole time instead.

"Ahahahahahahahahaha---**ACK!**" Max clenched his hand onto his chest, coughing blood, and then falling to the ground. He started to seize up. "Max! Are you okay?!" The redhead clung onto Archie's shirt with the strength he had left inside of him. "H-help me..." Max coughed up more blood before he returned to normal. And at that moment, realization kicked in and the boy broke like glass.

Max screamed and dug his face into Archie's shirt and began to bawl. **"ARCHIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" **Max's old nonchalant attitude towards everything that was happening was completely gone. **"I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA SEE MY MOM AGAIN! I WANNA SEE JARED! I DON'T CARE IF I START HIGH SCHOOL A BIT LATE! I JUST WANNA GO HOOOME!" **

Archie hugged his friend as tears stained his tank. "Maxie, I promise you, I won't let them hurt you anymore." Max looked up at the boy. "They'll get what's coming to them. I promise." The redhead was confused for a moment. "Maxie...?" He sniffled. Archie looked surprised for a moment. "Ah! My tongue slipped, Max!" Max shook his head and giggled a little. "It's fine, Archie. I don't mind nicknames."

His happiness soon became anger as he started to go on a tangent. "I swear to Arceus, if I had the chance, I would kill everyone that works here." Maxie sighed. "Plus, Lazarus has a girlfriend. And she's pregnant." The redhead growled a bit. "And mark my words, if that baby sees the light of day, I'd fucking kill it." Maxie looked up at Archie with eyes filled with hate. "If that baby ever gets near you, do you promise me that you will kill it?"

_"Well, that's morbid..." _Archie thought. "But what if he doesn't grow up to be like his father?" Maxie's brows furrowed. "He will. Trust me. I overheard conversations between the workers, saying that Lazarus' influence spread easily onto them. They even said they felt bad for some of the kids. But Lazarus is cold-hearted and I can tell he shows no remorse at all. Would his son be any different?"

Archie could see Maxie's point. "I will." He said, still a bit reluctant. "For real?" Maxie assured Archie. "For real."

"Good, then we're a team!" Maxie got a bit more optimistic, juxtaposing his attitude a few seconds earlier. He stuck his fist out, then Archie fist-bumped him. "And if we both get out of here alive, we'll keep in touch, alright?" Archie giggled.

"Of course."


End file.
